An intense winter storm, the product of a rapid and rare drop in barometric pressure known as bombogenesis, or bomb cyclone has slammed east coast US from Maine as far south as North Carolina, taking out power lines, icing over roads and forcing hundreds of schools shut with hurricane force winds.

The same thing happened four years ago with “polar vortex,” another long-used weather term that was little known to the public until then. (AP Photo)

As a result, the accumulation of snow and winds intensifies, which can cause property damage and power outages. (Image: Reuters)

Thousands of flights were canceled, firefighters scrambled to rescue motorists from flooded streets in Boston, snow plows and salt trucks rumbled along roads and highways, and New York City’s two main airports halted flights due to whiteout conditions. (Image: Reuters)

Schools were ordered closed in New York, many parts of New Jersey, Boston and elsewhere throughout the region. (AP Photo)

Some 65,000 homes and businesses in the Northeast were without power early on Thursday, though that number was expected to rise as the storm intensifies across the region. (AP Photo)

The cold has been blamed for at least nine deaths over the past few days, including two homeless people in Houston. (AP Photo)

This storm looks like it will intensify at twice that rate, said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center. (Image: Reuters)

Worldwide, about 40 to 50 “bomb cyclones” brew each year, but most are over open ocean and nobody but weather geeks notice, Maue said. (Image: Reuters)